A day three years in the making came Friday as Crazy Mountain Brewing, the Vail Valley-based brewer that has won fans beyond Colorado’s borders, opened the doors of its tap room in Denver.

Breckenridge Brewery gave Crazy Mountain first dibs on its 50-barrel brewhouse space at 471 N. Kalamath St. as it prepared to move to a new farm-style brewery complex in Littleton. Crazy Mountain started brewing last year in the space, which has a much larger capacity and already has become its main production facility for bottles. Crazy Mountain’s Edwards brewery and tap room still are open, but owners Kevin and Marisa Selvy have said they may shift to a more specialized focus there.

On Friday, after two nights of soft openings, the tap room and Texas-style barbecue restaurant opened its doors to the public.

Crazy Mountain Tap Room + BBQ is operated by Beaver Creek-based Group970 Restaurants, while Crazy Mountain will operate the brewing space and a “speakeasy” between the offices and the restaurant.

FATE Brewing Co. in Boulder has been canning but now will be adding a new facility, taking over the old Avery Brewing Co. operation on Arapahoe Road.

FATE Brewing Co. of Boulder announced it will be taking over the old Avery Brewing facility just five stoplights down from its current brewpub on Arapahoe Road.

“It is a great fit for us,” said FATE’s owner Mike Lawinski. “We will be maximizing our production. This gives us more warehouse room and will allow us to get back into barreling.”

At its brewpub, FATE produced about 4,000 barrels a year and recently began canning three of its beers. The brewery also struck gold at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival for its German-style kolsch beer.

Thirty-one breweries won 36 medals in beer categories in the 2015 Great American Beer Festival. Two Colorado breweries won in the Pro-Am competition.

Thirty-one Colorado breweries won 36 medals at the Great American Beer Festival last week, plus two Colorado breweries brewed two homebrew recipes that won medals in the Pro-Am competition.

So the question now is where can these beers be found? The most obvious response is to go to the brewery itself and ask for the beer. But some beers entered into the competition could have been one-offs or created especially for GABF and aren’t available. Additionally, Colorado Plus Brew Pub in Wheat Ridge is planning on a tap takeover on Oct. 24 with as many of the award-winning beers as it can find.

The new Breck digs under a Colorado sky (Eric Gorski, The Denver Post)

In one of the more anticipated local craft beer happenings of the year, Breckenridge Brewery this weekend will celebrate the grand opening of its impressive, sprawling and quite shiny new $36 million farmhouse-style brewery property in Littleton.

Founded in 1990, Breckenridge is one of the state’s legacy breweries and a sneak preview earlier this week was testament to that, attracting Colorado craft beer royalty including Adam Avery of Avery Brewing, Doug Odell of Odell Brewing and Brian Dunn of Great Divide.

Avery Brewing announced details of its farewell party for its current brewery and opening date for new location. (Courtesy of Avery)

Avery Brewing is preparing to open its long-awaited new brewery Feb. 16 — but not before it taps a few more rare beers at its current location.

The Boulder craft brewer announced the date in late January and detailed a farewell party for its current location in an alley off Arapahoe Avenue in an email to fans this week.

“On February 9, 2015, we will say a bittersweet goodbye to our beloved Avery Alley. It has been a dear friend to so many of us for over 21 years, but the time as come for us to move on,” Avery Brewing announced.

Zac Woodard, bar manager at Lucky Pie in Denver, gives us his opinion on the Beer in Review for 2014. (Photo courtesy of Lucky Pie).

As 2014 comes to a close, we’re once again asking leading figures on the Colorado beer scene to reflect on the past year and look ahead to next. This next installment in our 4th annual Beer In Review features the responses by Zac Woodard, bar manager at Lucky Pie Pizza & Taphouse in Denver. The restaurant at 1610 16th Street Mall has an ever-changing beer menu, featuring an eclectic and always interesting selection.

Here are Zac’s answers:
Favorite beer of the year: I can’t believe I have to pick just one. But the beer that keeps coming to mind is Fate Brewing Co.’s Uror. It’s a gose aged in Arta Tequila barrels, and it is delicious. The salt from the gose and the salinity from the tequila play really well together, and the beer is light enough that you can enjoy it whenever but crazy enough that it stands out.Read more…

As 2014 comes to a close, we’re once again asking leading figures on the Colorado beer scene to reflect on the past year and look ahead to next. This eighth installment in our 4th annual Beer In Review features Drew and Leah Watson, proprietors of the northwest Denver pizza restaurant and beer mecca Hops and Pie. The always-packed place has an ever-rotating lineup of local and national craft brands – including a new house IPA from Station 26 Brewing in Denver. On to Drew and Leah’s picks:

Favorite beer of the year: Superpower IPA from Comrade Brewing. This beer knocked our socks off. We cannot remember the last time we had an IPA for the first time that truly blew our minds. This beer did exactly that. It redeemed the style for us so to speak. Not that it was a bad style because it is something we drink our fair share of, but it redeemed new breweries producing said style. Hoppy, bitter, but balanced … Awesome!

Falling Rock Tap House was selected by beer enthusiasts as the best beer bar in the Mountain West region. (Denver Post file photo)

Denver’s Falling Rock Tap House was selected by beer fans as the top craft beer bar in the Mountain West region, according to a survey released Monday by CraftBeer.com for its annual Great American Beer Bars competition.

Falling Rock Tap House was chosen by beer enthusiasts as the best craft beer bar in the mountain west.

Falling Rock owner and founder Chris Black told the magazine he and his brothers Steve and Al built the Lodo bar 17 years ago as “our favorite place to hang out and we built it for brewers and enthusiasts to enjoy. We created a place where brewers can showcase the beers they are proudest of.”Read more…

Owen, who loves hockey and his dog Stella, was diagnosed when he was just 2. At the time of diagnosis, his white blood cell count was over 160,000 when normal ranges are 5,000-10,000. His platelet level was below 14,000 when normal ranges for a toddler are 150,000-400,000. More than 95 percent of his blood cells were cancerous.

The family has no insurance. His mother is a college student, who had to stop going to classes to care for her boy. Owen was denied Medicare because his father earns too much, though the boy does have coverage through Child Health Plan Plus — a low-cost health insurance for Colorado’s uninsured children.

Meyer said he doesn’t know what the hospital bills will be like. Owen’s treatment is going well and Meyer said the doctors are optimistic for his full recovery. However, the shock has been difficult to handle.

“We have yet to see a bill,” said Meyer. “The hospital told us to just focus on Owen right now.”

Avery Brewing is doing a little Christmas ale counter-programming with the release of a beer named for a demon.

The beer geek-favorite Boulder brewery unleashes the ninth annual batch of its Mephistopheles Stout today, its latest and last big beer release of the year. The 15.4 percent alcohol-by-volume imperial stout was first brewed in 2005 as the third installment in Avery’s Demons of Ale series.

The beer is distinguished by its Westmalle Belgian yeast strain – which the brewery says produces layers of esters and phenols that create much of the complexity – roasted and black malts, and trace amounts of Special B. That’s a specialty malt that adds a touch raisin-like sweetness.

Our new iPad app serves as a guide to metro Denver’s bountiful breweries, beer bars and bottle shops, the holy trinity of craft beer enjoyment for followers and fans. Download the app for iPad .
Next time you head for a beer in Boulder, don’t forget your friend, Beers of Boulder and Boulder County, an iPad app from the Daily Camera. Download the app for iPad .

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In Colorado, our pint glasses overflow with excellent beer. New breweries, new batches, festivals every other week. How lucky are we? First Drafts is The Denver Post's beer blog aimed at helping you keep tabs on the state's ever-expanding craft beer culture. We offer a mash of news, event coverage, homegrown stories, tasting notes and tips to help you imbibe. Expert drinker or homebrewer? Let us know what you're loving about Colorado's beer scene. Not sure exactly what a firkin is? No worries, let us be your guide. Go ahead. Belly up and drink it in!